Arakan News Agency
After nearly two years of delay due to repeated violence in Arakan province in western Myanmar, CNPC announced on May 19, 2017, the arrival of the first batch of crude oil from Myanmar via the oil pipeline between the two countries, while the gas pipeline between the two countries On September 30, 2013. According to Chinese media.
According to non-governmental reports in Myanmar, most of the country’s 5 to 8 million people out of 55 million live in the Arakan border with Bangladesh, which is rich in economic resources and which has one of China’s most important gas and oil pipelines.
Since August 25th, the Myanmar army has committed genocide against Rohingya Muslims in Arakan (Rakhine) province, killing and injuring thousands of civilians, according to Rohingya activists, and some 421,000 Rohingyas have taken refuge in Bangladesh.
The campaign of “ethnic cleansing”, as described by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, was attributed mainly to the persecution of Muslims by the government in Myanmar and the Rohingya exclusion from the list of 135 recognized ethnic groups in the country.
But according to media and economic reports, ethnic affiliation alone may not be the reason why the government in Myanmar is promoting attempts to exterminate Muslims.
Since the signing of the construction of oil and gas pipelines in 2009, demonstrations by citizens in Arakan against the plans of the Myanmar government and its partner, the China National Petroleum Corporation, have regularly erupted.
“Citizens in Arakan have lodged multiple complaints with government authorities about the Chinese project causing pollution of river water and destruction of public property,” Whitney Webb said on Sept. 20 in the Mint Press News.
Oil and gas pipelines run through 23 central cities, as well as 56 rivers and 76 mountains in Myanmar and China, according to the Chinese press, quoting government officials.
It also condemned the demonstrations of citizens, according to the American site, the failure of the Chinese institution to provide electricity to the region, as well as the avoidance of finding jobs for local workers.
